Carol Pierce: The future of the Laconia Human Relations Committee

To The Daily Sun,

For 25 years Laconia has had a mayor’s committee called the Laconia Human Relations Committee. Every mayor and police chief has supported and encouraged the work of this committee over this time. In fact, it was the mayor and the police chief who created it in 2000.

Our guiding mission is “to envision a world where everyone is treated with dignity, fairness, respect, and kindness. The committee shall strive to cultivate a community-wide climate that is welcoming to the individuality and dignity of each person.”

We work quietly at times, and other times more public, asking the community for support for our mission. Over the first 15 years, we actively supported the resettlement of about 250 refugees from Africa and the Middle East. They sought support and dignity in starting a new life in a democratic country full of promise. The response from neighbors, churches, government agencies, schools, and the business community was overwhelming. We continue to carry out our mission for bringing the community together in support of the many immigrants who have also come to live here.

We have striven to create a forum for remembering and addressing issues that build an inclusiveness democracy for all. For 23 years, we created and celebrated the Laconia Multicultural Festival. For many years, we sponsored an International Film Series each month at the Laconia library. We have spoken to classes at the high school on the inclusive world we live in in Laconia. We celebrate national holidays that remind us to eliminate the racism and antisemitism found among us. We, in particular, remember Martin Luther King Jr. Day each year. We have held silent vigils for peace.

What is hard to describe are the ways that members of this committee have brought their lives to this committee and to the community, personally and consciously, through their acts and deeds every day. They bring what it means to live in a democracy, with a sense of responsibility for making Laconia a place of inclusiveness.

We have been a working-person’s community that grew to one balanced by those of great wealth. How we live together is of prime importance in keeping democracy a shared experience of inclusiveness. It is something personal to do and be with dignity, responsibility, and integrity for who we are.

The question now is, should the Laconia Human Relations Committee be a standing committee of the City Council of Laconia, rather than a committee of the mayor? Over the years, I have watched the expression on people’s faces, here and throughout the state, when I mention that Laconia has such a mayor’s committee. Their remark is some form of “Really? They have that? How remarkable. I’m impressed.” Our work over the years is remarkable.

At 7 p.m. on Monday, Dec. 8, the city council is discussing the future of this committee as a standing committee of the city council. Please join us.

Carol Pierce

Laconia